My First Christmas in Australia

My little mini $25 Christmas tree (including lights and decorations)!

So this was my first Christmas away from home, my family and friends. But I suppose I still got a 'White' Christmas with Shane and his family (last name White hehe *winkface*).

I missed my family and friends dearly but I got see and talk to them on Skype so it made it that much better. I had a pretty great Christmas in Australia. It was a hot one, which was so different! It didn’t really feel like Christmas… though it didn't feel as festive! I've always known Christmas as being inside staying warm while there's a blanket of snow covering everything outside and having warm comfort foods. I spent the day with Shane’s family and with his nephews and niece running around and excited to open presents. We had a Christmas lunch with summer dishes like salads, seafood and cold meats so that was a change. The weather wasn't as hot as previous years as Shane tells me but for me it was a nice temperature so I didn't complain haha. 

 

It was a pretty busy day but we got a chance to wind down at the beach in the late afternoon and the water was nice and warm. It was a great way to relax after all the hustle and bustle of the day. Overall, my first Christmas in Oz was quite different from my past experiences but enjoyable nonetheless. My favourite was feeling the sand in between my toes on Christmas Day!! Can't say I've done that before!

Then in the evening we went for a cruise around the Old Bar neighbourhood and was quite surprised to see how many people put Christmas lights up on their houses. That's when it started feeling more like Christmas to me so that was a great way to end the day!

I just wanted to share a photo that Shane composed and captioned: "I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirits" (they call hard liquor 'spirits' here) ;)

Summer Music Festivals

When summer rolls around, you can expect your fair share of music festivals that are happening all around the country. My sister Tiff would really enjoy herself with the many choices of festivals.

I had a chance to go to 3 festivals: 1. Parklife, 2. Fat As Butter, and 3. Festival of the Sun.

Parklife, Sydney, October 2, 2011

Well, October is not quite into summer yet, hence the rainy and cold photos, but decided to group it in with this post anyway!
Pre-rum & frozen cokes for the bus ride there. It was rainy and cold, but we had $2 ponchos and I got some rain boots. Expensive drinks, 5 stages, great line up: we saw Naked and Famous, Nero, MSTRKRFT, Lykke Li, Kimbra, Ducksauce, Santigold, Yacht Club DJs, Strange Talk, Flux Pavilion, Example!

One out of the 5 stages at the festival

Kimbra

Rainy day and ponchos

With Zack, Phil, Shane and I

my Target rain boots were a good choice for a day like this, and I wasn't the only one rocking these ones

Santigold was amazing

With Simone and Kristy watching Santigold

Really enjoyed these guys

At the end of the night with our rainy hair and ponchos

Fat As Butter, Newcastle, October 22, 2011

The headliner, Flo Rida was a no show... due to (as rumoured) hotel room not meeting his standards? What a disappointment lol. It was a sunny and hot day, a few stages, rides, and festival food. We saw The Jezabels, Naughty by Nature, Empire of the Sun, The Herd, and a few others I can't remember.

No Flo Rida but Naughty by Nature was awesome!

Back at the tent, a little *unce unce unce*

Festival of the Sun, Port Macquarie, December 9-11, 2011

This was a camping weekend festival. Bring your own booze. Felt like a really expensive camping trip haha because we didn't see too many of the performances. I really liked Guineafowl and The Lyrical. Headliners which were Ladyhawke, and Art Vs. Science.

Our group camp setup

Stage with sand that got really gross by the end of the first day.

road trippin': fraser island, noosa, dreamworld and home

Sandy roads of Fraser Island, definitely need a 4WD on this island!

After a night at 1770 / Agnes Water, we packed up and went on our way to Hervey Bay, stopping at Bundaberg to wash the ute. Then off to River Head to catch the barge (ferry) over to Fraser Island! Because we went there on a whim, it was a bit of a rush and ran into some difficulties. We got there at 2pm and the ticket office was closed so we had to go to another shop that sold tickets and also get some groceries, fill up the tank, and we thought we had only half hour to do all! Fortunately we found out that we had until 3:30pm to get on the barge. We also had to do some calling around to get the permits we needed to drive and camp on Fraser Island. Everything worked out and we got everything organized in time! 

On the Kingfisher Bay barge (ferry) over to Fraser

The barge ride took about 45 minutes. We arrived at Kingfisher Resort and tried to ask for some information and help and had some trouble there as well. We bought a map and headed for Central Station to camp for the night. It was pretty cool four-wheel driving through the forest in the sand. It was bit of a trek, taking an hour to go to our destination because the roads were pretty bad and got to the camp site by dark. Got to Sanitay campground. Setting up the tent in the dark wasn't too bad. There were dingo warnings all over the place, the information pamphlets, maps and signs around the camp site saying: Beware of Dingos, don't walk around alone, and pack your food away, and I it got me all worried about the dingos haha. Anyway, we had some dinner and went to bed.

The next morning, we woke up to a huge forest, which was amazing because we didn't even know where were camping since it was so dark when we got there! It was so lush, green and mossy. After some breakfast we packed up and were on our way to explore the island! Drove to Eurong to get a couple things and started our beach drive from there, which was really fun and travelled up the seventy five mile beach. 

At Central Station campgrounds. Woke up in a lush forest. 

Shane swinging on a vine he found.

Driving on the 75 mile beach

We checked out Eli Creek, which was a fresh water creek and The Shipwreck on the beach. We also saw the pinnacles. Got to Indian Head and got stuck in the soft sand for a bit at the bypass but made it through. Went to the Champagne Pools and we had some lunch there. We really enjoyed the sun and the beach drive and getting to see so many sights. 

At Eli Creek - one of the many fresh water creeks along the beach

Eli Creek 

Eli Creek

The Shipwreck

The Shipwreck

The Shipwreck

The Shipwreck

The Pinnacles

Having some fun at the Pinnacles

My sad attempt at a star haha

The Pinnacles

Walk to the Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools

Then we went to Waddy Point to set up camp for the night. Our plan was to go to Wathumba but it was further drive and would have been dark by the time we got there. When we got to Waddy Point, the ranger told us he knew a better spot to camp along the beach so he took us driving on the beach through some pretty crazy terrain. There was lots of massive potholes filled with water and mud and the ranger got soaked from going through a really huge puddle, so we tried to find another way around and the ranger left us! We found a way around but then we decided to just go back to Waddy Point. It was a pretty good site. We had a bit of rain in the afternoon. We set up a fire and we made steak burritos for dinner, showered, and Shane found some cane toads along the way and went on a killing spree (since cane toads are bad for their ecosystem). $1 showers so it was nice and hot and much needed!

The terrain the ranger took us on.

We went to Wathumba Creek, the next morning, to check it out and go for a fish. Took about 40 min to get there because the roads were still bad and rough. The tide was going out so we walked along the beach the wrong way and the water was getting shallower so we couldn't really fish. We tried and threw a couple out but just got some weeds back! So we went back to our campsite to pack up. 

So many different types of trees along our drive through the island.

Wathumba Creek, we were the only ones on this side, first to leave footprints in the sand

Wathumba Creek at low tide.

We went back on the beach to get to a scenic route to go check out Lake Mckenzie. On the way, we also checked out Wabby Lake Lookout, which was really cool because the lake was right next to a huge sand dune, but we were running low on time so we didn't go down to the lake. Got to Lake Mckenzie, which is a fresh water lake and it was so beautiful. Crystal clear water and white, super fine sand. The water was a bit fresh but nice after you get in. 

Another group of different trees seen on our drive inland.

Lake Wabby Lookout

Lake Mckenzie. Clearest water and softest sand.

Lake Mckenzie, a popular tourist stop

After a dip in the lake, we went to  find ourselves a campsite for the night near Eurong. It was our last night on Fraser Island and ended up staying at One Tree Rock on the beach. It was a secluded and calm place. Made some some dinner, set up a fire and enjoyed our dinner by the fire. We saw some bats, and Shane saw a dingo stroll by in front of us but I didn't see because my eyes didn't adjust quick enough. We saw the beach by moonlight and that was really nice and peaceful.

Camping along the beach near Eurong

We had such an amazing time at Fraser Island, there was just so much to see and do, we wished we had another day or two to really explore the place without feeling rushed at times! But Fraser Island is definitely a must!!

We took the barge over to Rainbow Beach the next morning, and made the drive down to Noosa and stayed there for couple hours and had lunch at the Surf Club. So relaxing we didn't want to leave! We contemplated on staying a night at Noosa or just head to Brisbane for the night, so we decided on Brisbane to stay with Tess and Ian again.

Taking the barge back to Rainbow Beach

Noosa Beach, QLD

Noosa Surf Club

Before heading back home, we spent a day at Dreamworld! We went on some rides and went to the waterpark at White Water World and then made the drive back home to Old Bar!